Bookless Reading: 1st Digital Public Library Comes to US

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Is a library without books an oxymoron? The bookless library
contains no physical books, but could have an infinite number of
digital titles. If all goes according to plan, San Antonio will
host the nation's first all-digital public library, BiblioTech,
this fall.

The project is being led by Bexar County judge Nelson Wolff, who
said he was inspired by reading Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter
Isaacson. "If you want to get an idea what it looks like, go into
an Apple
store ," Wolff told the San Antonio Express-News.

"It’s not a replacement for the [city] library system, it’s an
enhancement," he said. "People are always going to want
[physical] books, but we won’t be doing that in ours."

Indeed, the artist's rendering for the city's first bookless
library looks like a cross between an Apple store and an Internet
cafe. It will be located in a county-owned building on the city's
south side, where access to technology is lower than in other
parts of San Antonio.

"We wanted to find a low-cost, effective way to bring reading and
learning to the county and also focus on the change in
the world
of technology ," Wolff said.

In addition to computer workstations, BiblioTech will have
100 e-book
readers that can be checked out just like a book.

"You check it out for two weeks, just like a library book," Wolff
said. "In two weeks, your e-book reader goes dead, so you won't
have anything worth keeping.”

Wolff will ask the Bexar County Commissioners Court on Tuesday to
approve plans for BiblioTech, including about $250,000 to
purchase the rights to the library's first 10,000 book titles.